Straight Gin

A war zone. That's what posts 8 through 12 are going to be in Saturday's Preakness Stakes, as a five-horse stampede is going to come charging out of the gate and down the Pimlico stretch for the first time. And it's all the result of Bob Baffert and Company choosing post 8, resulting in the connections of the other speed horses to all select outside posts.

Having won the 1996 Preakness with Louis Quatorze, trainer Nick Zito is looking for another big payday with a daughter of the renowned horse. Aly Quatorze, who won twice at Gulfstream this winter, will take on favored Chamrousse in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (gr. II) on Friday.

With Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey aboard, Preakness Stakes favorite Medaglia d'Oro sizzled three furlongs in :35 at New York's Belmont Park as he prepared for Saturday's second leg of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, Maryland.

Preakness activity reached its peak Tuesday morning, as War Emblem, Harlan's Holiday, and Booklet worked at Churchill Downs, while Crimson Hero and U S S Tinosa tuned up at Pimlico. The accent was on light maintenance for all the workers except U S S Tinosa, who sizzled his half in :46 2/5.

This weekend in New York, Kentucky, and Arkansas, everyone will be picking up rocks, hoping to find the one that reveals the winner of the Kentucky Derby, or at least the winners of a couple of Saturday's big stakes.

Danthebluegrassman zipped five furlongs in :58.6 at Santa Anita Park on Monday as he posted the fastest time of the day among the 49 horses working at that distance. His workout was the highlight of a busy workday Monday for 3-year-olds at tracks across the country.

For a weekend in which we had five races of note for 3-year-olds, we learned very little. Three of the five races were run on sloppy or muddy tracks, and in the highlight event, the San Rafael Stakes, we really didn't learn much more about Came Home than we knew before, other than he can now get a mile with no problem.

Michael Tabor's Nokoma, runner-up in the Remsen Stakes to Saarland, will attempt to rebound from a disappointing effort in the Holy Bull Stakes when he takes on 12 opponents in a mile and 70-yard allowance race at Gulfstream Saturday.